*Cunninghamella bertholletiae's* Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin Reduction Using *Nepenthes mirabilis* 'Monkey Cup' Digestive Fluids

*Elie Fereche Itoba-Tombo, Seteno Karabo Obed Ntwampe, John Baptist Nzukizi Mudumbi, Lukhanyo Mekuto, Enoch Akinbiyi Akinpelu and Nkosikho Dlangamandla*

#### **Abstract**

A fermentation technique was utilised to assess a fungus, i.e. *Cunninghamella bertholletiae*/*polymorpha*, isolated from rotting cassava, ability to produce mycotoxins and resultant oxidation by-products of the mycotoxins using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Thus, the mycotoxins/secondary metabolites, fumonisin B1 (FB1 ) and deoxynivalenol (DON) were produced while, heptadecanone, octadecanamide, octadecenal and 3-keto-deoxynivalenol (DON) were successfully identified as biodegradation by-products in the fermentation broth treated with hydrolysing 'monkey cup' juice from *Nepenthes mirabilis*. Exposure to the mycotoxins and the biodegradation by-products through consumption of contaminated produce including contact due to the cumulative presence in arable agricultural soil can be harmful to humans and animals. Therefore, this work reports on a strategy for the mitigation and reduction of mycotoxins in agricultural soil using natural plant pitcher juices from *N. mirabilis'* 'monkey cup'.

**Keywords:** biodegradation, carboxylesterases, *Cunninghamella bertholethiae*, LC/MS, mycotoxins, *Nepenthes mirabilis*

#### **1. Introduction**

Postharvest storage for cassava is often shortened due to product spoilage caused by bacterial and fungal infestation [1, 2]. Fungal species such as *Aspergillus* spp., *Fusarium* spp., *Penicillium* spp. and *Cunninghamella* spp. can produce toxins and/or

secondary metabolites that affect the storage longevity and quality of agricultural product such as cassava [2, 3]. These mycotoxins, which have a negative impact on agricultural products, lead to economic losses due to the contamination of cassava tubers, which makes them inedible. Generally, toxins are biosynthetic compounds produced by numerous microorganisms in a natural or controlled environment.

These microorganisms include the fungus, *Cunninghamella bertholletiae* (also known as *Cunninghamella polymorpha* due to its morphological characteristics and mating/reproductive scheme) [4], is known to be pathogenic to humans and animals [5–7], while its toxins in the environment and on consumable commodities constitute an environmental hazard and a health risk to consumers [8–11]. Some fungi, including their metabolites, are able to contaminate several plant parts as they are endophytes, culminating in infestation of agricultural products such as tomatoes, maize, potatoes, beans, peanuts, yams and wheat, including cassava [1, 5, 12–17] and dairy products such as milk and cheese [1, 18, 19]. Humans' or animals' consumption of contaminated products may lead to foodborne toxin-related intoxication [7, 20] culminating in the degeneration of human internal organs including their functionality and the promotion of diseases such as cancer [8, 15, 21–23]. Some clinical outcomes in animals and humans include liver and oesophageal cancer [21, 23], the destruction of renal and nerve tissues, profound oxidative stress, heart and pulmonary diseases [23].

There are several varieties of mycotoxins, namely aflatoxins (AFB1 , AFB2 , AFG1 and AFG2 ), fumonisins (FB1 , FB2 ), deoxynivalenol (DON), ochratoxins (A, B and C), amongst others, which are produced by numerous species, some of which are deleterious to plants/agricultural products, humans and animals [1, 5, 21, 23, 24]. Their production can occur under favourable environmental conditions, such as a high temperature and adequate moisture/humidity, including the availability of nutrients (mostly from the decaying produce) [25]. These concerns have prompted researchers to find cheap, efficient and cost-effective ways to reduce or manage mycotoxinproducing organisms, including mycotoxin contamination, when produced [11, 26] to limit sequential effects including products' contamination.

In a previous study, it was found that *C. bertholletiae*/*polymorpha*, a common soil organism [7, 23, 26] which was isolated from decomposing cassava, was both cyanide-resistant with the ability to biodegrade free cyanide while being antagonistic towards other soil organisms [15, 27]. Currently, there is minimal literature available on mycotoxins produced by *C. bertholletiae*. Similarly, there is minimal research on a mitigation strategy which could be classified as environmentally benign for combined toxin reduction, via oxidation or hydrolysis. The mitigation method must be implementable *in-situ* in order to minimise deleterious effects observed when other methods are used.

Therefore, the aim of this study was to propose and assess a method for the identification of mycotoxins from the free-cyanide tolerant *C. bertholletiae*/*polymorpha* isolate; furthermore, to quantitatively assess a mitigation method using oxidative/ hydrolysing 'monkey cup' digestive fluids from *N. mirabilis* (green chemistry approach). A *N. mirabilis* is a carnivorous plant which belongs to the genus of *Nepenthes*. This plant is characterised by a pitfall trap commonly known as a 'monkey cup' at the end of the plants' leaf, which contains an acidic and oxidative/hydrolysing fluid. The plants' pitcher juices are known to contain a variety of enzymes useful for prey digestion [28, 29]. As such, these enzymes can oxidise and/or hydrolyse mycotoxins and secondary metabolites via deamination or mechanisms biocatalytically facilitated by esterases for the decoupling of aliphatic chains in mycotoxins or secondary metabolites.

Cunninghamella bertholletiae's *Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101353*

#### **2. Mycotoxin (secondary metabolite) production in food**

Several studies discussed about the presence of mycotoxins in food. Thus, during a produce life cycle from harvest, postharvest, selves' life, processing and sometimes distribution, there is a presence of mycotoxins in food worldwide [1]. These toxins occurred during poor storage, handling and processing conditions, sometimes might be the result of the rot/decay foodstuffs [2, 14, 30]. While these mycotoxins constitute a serious threat to food quality and human's health [22, 30].

#### **2.1 Extraction and analysis of mycotoxins (secondary metabolites) and their biodegradation by-products**

Literatures abound on the extraction and analysis of mycotoxins, a liquid-phase extraction method seems to be more used. Thus, [31, 32] used liquid-liquid extraction method for their studies in mycotoxins identification, while [33] used a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for a combined analysis of aflatoxins, ochratoxin A and *Fusarium* for maize crop. Whereas [34] chose a multiplex approach of Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and One-dimensional (1D) NMR spectroscopy (1D NMR) techniques for their study on a comparative metabolite profiling and fingerprinting of medicinal licorice roots, to name few.

The samples were analysed using an LC/MS-ToF 6230 (Agilent Technologies Inc., USA) and using mobile-phase parameters as listed in the table below in Supplementary Material, without optimisation as suggested by [31, 34]. The solvent extract phase was steadily evaporated using a blow-down technique to dryness at an ambient temperature for 24 h to minimise mycotoxin evaporation using nitrogen (N2) gas (Afrox, South Africa) [31, 35].

The identification of the mycotoxins from *C. bertholletiae*/*polymorpha* isolate, including toxin biodegradation by-products, was done through analysis on LC/MS-ToF 6230 (Agilent Technologies Inc., USA) and analytical standard as well as profile data as per [31, 35] using a mycotoxin/biodegradation by-product database, with the assumption that samples were assumed to lose an electron with the H+ proton being hypothetically the lost ion. Compounds were initially mined based on their molecular features and verified by mining based on their exact formulas. The extracted ion chromatogram (EIC) of matched compounds is presented in **Supplementary Figure 2**.

#### **3. Proposed mitigation strategy**

#### **3.1** *N. mirabilis* **extracts collection, characterisation and application**

The assessment of the physicochemical characteristics of the *N. mirabilis* pitcher juice used was similar to that in [36–38]. Thus, the assessment revealed the following: conductivity: 5.89 S/m, redox potential: 510 mV, specific gravity (SG): 1.02 and a pH of 2.5.

Additionally, a qualitative method for the analysis and enzymes/biochemical tests were done to determine the presence of enzymes in the pitcher juice [36–39]. Furthermore, the VITEK 2 DensiChek™ cards were used (as a supplementary method) to quantitatively determine the enzyme presence in the extracts during the physicochemical analysis of the pitcher juice according to the instrument's/device's user manual instructions [40].

#### **3.2 Enzyme (carboxylesterase) activity: mechanism, specificity and quantification**

The quantification of carboxylesterases activity was similar to the method adopted from [41–43] with minor modifications. The overall biocatalysis properties of the *N. mirabilis* pitcher constituents, with a focus on carboxylesterases, are described by [41], who suggested that hydrolysis mechanism associated with carboxylesterases facilitates the biocatalysis of reactions associated with enzymes, including arylesterase, lysophospholipase, acetylesterase, acylglycerol lipase, etc. In the current study, the biodegradation of fumonisin and deoxynivalenol (DON) was achieved using a single enzyme (carboxylesterases).

Furthermore, subsequent reports on the development of a spectrophotometric method used for the determination of carboxylesterase activity for the *N. mirabilis* digestive fluid were used by [29, 42].

#### **3.3 Carboxylesterase activity assay**

Previous studies assessed carboxylesterase activity. Thus, the carboxylesterase activity assay was determined spectrophotometrically at an ambient temperature using *p*-nitrophenyl acetate (PNPA) as the substrate as suggested by [36, 43]. While the activity was measured by determining the rate of biocatalysis of PNPA to *p*-nitrophenol (PNP) which was spectrophotometrically monitored at 410 nm. The PNPA exhibits minimal absorbance at 410 nm, whereas the PNP absorbs strongly. The extinction coefficient used for PNP was 17,000 M−1·cm−1 [36]. Activity was then expressed in U/L, where 1 unit is equivalent to 1 μmol/min (the rate of conversion for PNPA to PNP).

#### **3.4 Spectrophotometer settings: Carboxylesterase activity assay**

The JENWAY 6405 UV/Vis spectrophotometer (Agilent Pty, USA) at a kinetics setting was used 410 nm to monitor PNP formation for 2 min at 10 sec intervals, while the cell holder temperature was at 25°C. Eq. (1) Illustrates the mathematical expression used to quantify the activity of carboxylesterases [36].

$$\text{activity } (\text{U/L}) = \left[ \frac{\frac{dA}{dt} \* \text{(dilution factor)}}{\text{extice} \* \text{coefficient}} \right] \* 60 \* 10^6 \tag{1}$$

Where *dA dt* is the value of the reaction's initial rate.

#### **4. Mycotoxins identification**

Mycotoxins produced by the isolated *C. bertholletiae*/*polymorpha* were assessed via a fermentation technique in a nutrient broth medium with the liquid-liquid extraction method being done using chloroform, subsequent to a blow-down technique of the samples and reconstitution in absolute methanol. The compounds listed in **Table 1** were identified based on their molecular composition (structural features) and massto-charge ratio (*m*/*z*), using an LC/MS-ToF.

Cunninghamella bertholletiae's *Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101353*

Toxin identification is important due to observed consequential outcomes of the infested cassava as by-products of bacterial or mycotic infestation which are hazardous to both humans and animals if such agricultural product is consumed. Thus, both fumonisin B1 and deoxynivalenol were identified as the prevalent compounds associated with the fermentation of the cyanide resistant isolate, *C. bertholletiae*, accession no. KT275316 [15].

FB1 detection on LC/MS-ToF was done, based on a method developed by [18, 24, 31, 44], for which the analyte produces a signal under a positive MS acquisition mode (**Table 1**).

A, mycotoxins molar mass (g/mol); B, biodegradation by-products molar mass (g/mol); A1, mycotoxins mass (*m*/*z*) to charge ratio-ion form [M + H]<sup>+</sup> ; B1, biodegradation by-products mass (*m*/*z*) to charge ratio-ion form.

For FB1 , mean peak counts of 4 × 103 were observed, while 1.9 × 103 counts were for DON. Similarly, and according to [31], DON detection is easily achieved through HPLC/LC-MS and UV methods. A LC/MS–ToF method, as described above, was used without modification nor optimisation, to also identify the biodegradation byproducts for each identified mycotoxins/secondary metabolite as listed in **Table 1**.

Two peaks were observed with a retention time of 23.79 and 35.12 min, with a molecular formula of C34H59NO15 and C15H20O6, analogous to FB1 and DON, respectively. The peaks, A and B, were directly associated with ion *m*/*z* of 722.395 and 297.13, when the ESI was operated in a positive mode [ion form: M + H+ ]. From the analysis, a combination of the molecular weight, the structure, including *m*/*z* ratio, confirmed the identification of the compounds. It is paramount to indicate that FB1 was detected in a culture in which CN<sup>−</sup> (as KCN) was supplemented; hypothetically, indicating that the FB1 production was perhaps influenced by strenuous conditions to which the culture was subjected in comparison to DON.

#### **4.1 Biodegradation by-products' identification**

To the reported residual samples of the cyanide-resistant *C. bertholletiaee*/*polymorpha*, in which FB1 and DON were detected, *N. mirabilis* pitcher juices were added. This was for an assessment of the fungal mycotoxins/toxins' (FB1 and DON) biodegradation into by-products [36–38], which could be identified using the LC/MS-ToF. Thus, compounds such as heptadecanone, octadecanamide and octadecenal were successfully identified from FB1 samples with only 3-keto-DON being identified in DON samples, respectively (**Table 1**; **Figure 1**).


#### **Table 1.**

C. bertholletiae's *mycotoxins/toxins and mycotoxins biodegradation by-products identified using LC/MS-ToF.*

The findings of this study are similar to those from previous studies which revealed that a biodegradation of FB1 yielded by-products such as heptadecanone, octadecanamide and octadecenal (**Supplementary Figure 2a**–**c**) [26, 45]. While a degradation of DON led to an intermediate by-product such as 3-keto-DON [46, 47] (**Supplementary Figure 2d**). By using a similar identification strategy to that used to identify FB1 and DON, it was clear that *N. mirabilis* had a deleterious effect on both DON and FB1 . The findings of this study are in agreement with those by [38, 48]. From the spectra, the by-product counts indicated octadecenal (1.1 × 102 ) > octadecanamide (1 × 102 ) > heptadecanone (0.9 × 102 ) with molecular ion peaks at *m*/*z* [M + H+ ], 267.268, 284.282 and 256.270, respectively.

Furthermore, for DON residual samples, the by-products observed when subjected to the *N. mirabilis* pitcher juice were indicative of 3-keto-DON; that is, with the ESI spectra showing a molecular ion peak at *m*/*z* [M + H<sup>+</sup> ], 295.115 in a positive ion mode which was consistent with the molecular formula (C15H18O6) (see **Supplementary Figure 2d**). Due to the nature of the proposed *in-situ* mitigation strategy, it is prudent to indicate that the applied *N. mirabilis* pitcher juice comprises biocatalytic agents or enzymes [39, 49] known to facilitate the

**Figure 1.** *Summary of a biodegradation process and associated oxidation/hydrolysing enzymes.*

Cunninghamella bertholletiae's *Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101353*

biodegradation of mycotoxins, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Thus, a degrading ability of the pitcher juice is due to the presence of enzymes such as carboxylesterase, β-glucuronidase, phosphatidyl inositol phospholipase C, xylanases, etc., which are able to biodegrade several organic matters, i.e. agro-waste, hemicellulose, etc., as well as mycotoxins/toxins [36–39, 49–51]. The enzymes found in the *N. mirabilis* pitcher juice originate from decayed multitude of trapped preys/species (insects) and microbial community (fungal and bacterial, etc.) within the plant's fluid [28, 37, 39, 41, 49, 51, 52].

#### **4.2 Enzyme/biochemical activity assays for** *N. mirabilis* **pitcher juice**

The samples' carboxylesterase activity (quantitative) and other biochemical assays (using the VITEK system, qualitative) were also done at room temperatures, whereas the *N. mirabilis* pitcher juice for carboxylesterase, *P*-nitrophenyl acetate (PNPA) were used as a substrate at 75% dilution and 410 nm absorbance which was similar to [36, 37]. For biochemical assays, numerous enzymes (as highlighted in **Table 2**) were positively identified, while the calculation of carboxylesterase activity was found to be 7.8 U/L.

#### **5. Mycotoxin identification from cyanide-resistant** *Cunninghamella* **spp.**

Due to the multitude of methods developed and assessed, a method modified by [44], for toxin extraction from a fermentation of broth, was adopted. It was thus used to produce mycotoxins (FB1 and DON) from the cyanide-resistant *C. bertholletiae*/*polymorpha*, with the extracts being used for LC/MS-ToF analysis due to the method's usability, reproducibility and rapidity, while incurring minimal input/sample-processing costs.

#### **5.1 Biodegradation by-products: outcomes of the mitigation strategy**

A digestive fluid of *N. mirabilis* was used as a feasible alternative for the biodegradation of fungal mycotoxins/toxins (Fumonisin and DON) with assays (*n* = 2) confirming the prevalence of carboxylesterases. However, previous studies mentioned the existence of several enzymes [28, 39, 41, 49, 50] within a *N. mirabilis* digestive fluid/pitcher juice, which counts as a larger enzymatic profile than individual microbial species, as highlighted in **Table 2**.

Furthermore, a few sceptics could express concern about the use of a plant's pitcher juice on mycotoxin-contaminated matrices because of its low pH (2.5), as well as availability, which can be addressed by using appropriate buffers and suitable plant


#### **Table 2.**

*Carboxylesterase activity and qualitatively identified enzymes.*

extracts with similar enzymatic characteristics. Overall, the application of a low pH extract in a matrix such as agricultural soil should not be a major concern because a soil's pH can be amended by an application of lime. A study by [53] revealed that the application of lime on agricultural soil with a low pH increases the soil's pH, improving its respiration capacity, while retaining the soil's microbial community profile at an acceptable level.

#### **6. Conclusions**

The identification through LC/MS-ToF of toxins ((fumonisin B1 and deoxynivalenol (DON)) from a free-cyanide-resistant *Cunninghamella bertholletiae*/*polymorpha* as well as a mitigation strategy for toxins reduction through a biodegradation/fermentation process using 'monkey cup' juice from *N. mirabilis* (which yielded by-products such as heptadecanone, octadecanamide, octadecenal and 3-keto-DON) is an important step towards ensuring food safety and mitigating humans' health hazards through toxins exposure. As, an exposure or intoxication from these mycotoxins, through consumption of contaminated food or agricultural product, can be hazardous to humans and animals. Therefore, control measures for food and animal feed contamination are needed in order to decrease the levels of these compounds. Additionally, preventative protocols and/or mitigation strategies that would ensure the eradication of these hazardous compounds, using an environmentally benign approach such as *N. mirabilis* digestive fluid/ pitcher juices, are paramount. Thus, the application of the digestive fluid to a liquid matrix which culminated in the biodegradation of mycotoxins (fumonisin B1 and DON), with the subsequent formation of the biodegradation by-products such as heptadecanone, octadecanamide, octadecenal for fumonisin B1 and 3-keto-DON for DON, which are easier to biodegrade by other microbial communities, should be encouraged.

However, it is worth noting that at this stage, there is a need to find alternative indigenous plant extracts with similar characteristics to that of the *N. mirabilis*.

#### **Acknowledgements**

The authors would like to express their gratitude to: Ogheneochuko Oputu, all BioERG members as well as staff from the Environmental Management Programme and Biotechnology department for their support.

#### **Funding**

The research is funded by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, through the University Research Fund (URF)—Cost code R980.

#### **Conflicts of interest**

The authors declare no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this manuscript.

Cunninghamella bertholletiae's *Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101353*

#### **Appendix**

#### **Supplementary Figure 2.**

*Molecular features and the extracted ion chromatograms (EICs)/mass spectrum of mycotoxins/toxins' biodegradation by-products: (a) heptadecanone, (b) octadecanamide, (c) octadecenal and (d) 3-keto-DON.*


*Y, analytical grade methanol.*

#### **Supplementary Table S1.**

*LC/MS-ToF elution and mobile phase parameters.*

### **Author details**

Elie Fereche Itoba-Tombo1 \*, Seteno Karabo Obed Ntwampe2 , John Baptist Nzukizi Mudumbi3 , Lukhanyo Mekuto4 , Enoch Akinbiyi Akinpelu3 and Nkosikho Dlangamandla5

1 Department of Environmental and Occupational Studies, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

2 School of Chemical and Mineral Engineering, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

3 Bioresource Engineering Research Group (BioERG), Department of Biotechnology, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa

4 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

5 Department of Chemical Engineering, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

\*Address all correspondence to: elie.tombo@gmail.com

© 2021 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cunninghamella bertholletiae's *Toxins from Decomposing Cassava: Mitigation Strategy for Toxin… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101353*

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#### **Chapter 7**

## Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water

*Hsiu-Ling Chen, Rachelle D. Arcega, Samuel Herianto, Chih-Yao Hou and Chia-Min Lin*

#### **Abstract**

Mycotoxins are food safety and public health concerns due to their widespread contamination in agricultural products and adverse health effects on humans. Several decontamination techniques, including physical-, chemical-, and thermal-based treatments, are employed to minimize the levels of mycotoxins in food. However, these treatments present disadvantages, such as negative impacts on the quality and leftover chemical residues on the treated food after physical- and chemical-based treatments. Furthermore, mycotoxins are resistant to heat, thus contributing to the insufficiency of thermal treatments for complete mycotoxin degradation. The use of alternative nonthermal-based treatments, such as nonthermal plasma (NTP) and plasma-activated water (PAW) for mycotoxin degradation in food, have been recently explored to overcome these limitations. NTP and PAW treatments are known to minimize the unfavorable changes in food quality while ensuring safety from food contaminants. The basics of NTP and PAW technologies, their mycotoxin decontamination efficiencies, their underlying mechanisms of action, effects on food quality, and the safety of mycotoxin degradation byproducts and treated food are hereby discussed in this chapter.

**Keywords:** mycotoxin, nonthermal plasma, plasma-activated water, mechanism of action, food quality, toxicity

#### **1. Introduction**

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins or secondary metabolites produced by a wide range of fungal species (molds), including *Aspergillus*, *Claviceps*, *Fusarium*, *Penicillium*, and *Alternaria* [1]. These microorganisms usually colonize in crops and plants; thus, they can release the mycotoxin compounds and further contaminate the agricultural products during pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest [2]. Enyiukwu et al. [3] reported that approximately 25% of the global food and feed output is contaminated by mycotoxins. Furthermore, researchers have identified around 300 types of mycotoxins and revealed that 10 of these toxic compounds, such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins, zearalenone (ZEN), ergotamine, deoxynivalenol (DON),

fumonisins, nivalenol, enniatin, citrinin, and trichothecenes, commonly contaminate agriculture-based foods worldwide [4]. These molecules can induce mycotoxicosis (acute and chronic toxic diseases) in humans, raising concerns toward food safety and public health [1]. Additionally, mycotoxin contaminations have been reported to be responsible for significant economic losses [4]. For instance, the costs for the agricultural industry or food supply chain induced by mycotoxin contamination are USD 1.5 billion/year in the United States [5].

Multiple methods, ranging from conventional-, physical-, to chemical-based treatments, have been employed throughout the years to detoxify and decontaminate mycotoxin from agricultural products. The conventional approaches, including cooking and pasteurization, are simple and low-cost treatments; however, several mycotoxins can resist such thermal-based treatments [6]. Meanwhile, physical and chemical approaches, such as microwave [7], ozone [8], essential oils [9], and pulsed light irradiation [10], have been widely applied. However, these typical treatments are still problematic because they may result in undesirable changes in the physical, chemical, and sensory properties of the treated foods.

Nonthermal-based treatments, such as nonthermal plasma (NTP) and plasmaactivated water (PAW), have recently gained considerable attention in food safety because they possess significant antimicrobial capacity against a wide range of foodborne pathogens without negative effects on food quality [11, 12]. Gaseous NTP and PAW richly contain multiple charged particles, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and reactive nitrogen species (RNS); thus, these methods have been proposed to prevent the risk of mycotoxin contaminations in various foods [4]. Ultimately, the effectiveness of both systems has rapid growth for decontaminating multiple foods from various microorganisms, such as *Saccharomyces cerevisiae*, *Escherichia coli*, *Staphylococcus aureus*, *Bacillus cereus*, *Klebsiella pneumonia*, and *Listeria monocytogenes*, as widely reviewed by Herianto et al. [11], Perinban et al. [13], Thirumdas et al. [14], and Zhou et al. [15]. Nevertheless, a review focusing on their effects on mycotoxin deactivations is unavailable. Thus, this chapter briefly discusses the applications of NTP and PAW for mycotoxin decontamination in various agricultural foods and their respective effects on food quality according to the most up-to-date studies. In addition, the decontamination mechanism of reactive species by both systems over mycotoxin is elaborated. Finally, constructive suggestions are also provided to stimulate satisfactory research of this field in the future.

#### **2. Fundamentals of NTP and PAW**

NTP represents a physical agent compromising a mixture of charged particles, neutral particles, radicals, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and reactive species (RNS and ROS), which can induce oxidative stress and death of cells or organisms upon interactions [16]. Electrical energy is normally used to introduce feeding gases, such as ambient air, argon (Ar), helium (He), and oxygen (O2), into the plasma phase to form NTP, which further generates a combination of the above-mentioned species [17]. Plasma can be effectively generated through the following four main systems of devices—electric arc discharges, corona discharges, plasma jet, and dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) [13]. Among these configuration systems, plasma jet and DBD are preferred due to their simplicity and efficient capability of producing richly reactive species [11]. Particularly, plasma jet utilizes discharged plasma electrodes that can extend beyond the area of plasma generation into the surrounding ambiance [18],

#### *DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*

further facilitating an effective interaction with the treated foods. Meanwhile, DBD uses discharges produced between two electrodes, which are separated by dielectric barrier materials, such as glass and ceramic [19]. Foods of interest can be placed between two electrodes for plasma exposure and treatment, further allowing for interaction and decontaminations.

Meanwhile, PAW is a liquid product of chemical reactions of NTP with water, containing a rich variety of high ROS and RNS [20]. ROS includes several chemically reactive molecules and free radicals containing molecular oxygen, such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (•OH), ozone (O3), superoxides (O2 − ,), singlet oxygen (1 O2), and alpha-oxygen [21]. By contrast, RNS is a group of nitric oxide-derived compounds, including NO2 − , NO3 − , nitroxyl anion, peroxynitrite (OONO− ), nitrosonium cation, and S-nitrosothiols [22]. In particular, Herianto et al. [11] reviewed the detailed reaction mechanism of the formation of these reactive species. Several key parameters for performing these reactions and successful PAW generations include water sources (sterile distilled water, deionized water, reverse osmosis water, and tap water), working gas (air, Ar, He, and O2), power, activation time, gas flow rate, and position of the plasma electrode toward water [11, 12].

Unlike NTP, as a liquid solution, PAW enables a maximal exposure of reactive species to the entire surface of the treated foods, suggesting large-scale applications over various agricultural products in large volumes [11, 20]. Overall, both systems have been successfully applied for decontaminating various foods and agricultural products, such as vegetables (baby spinach leaves, mushroom, and mung bean sprout), fruits (grape tomato, grape, Chinese bayberry, and strawberry), fresh-cut fruits and vegetables (fresh-cut apple, pear, kiwifruit, endive lettuce, celery, and radicchio), meats (beef, chicken breast), shrimps, eggs, and rice cake [11, 12, 14, 23–27]. The application of these decontamination systems for mycotoxins is discussed in Section 3.

#### **3. Mycotoxin degradation in food using NTP and PAW**

Several researchers have utilized NTP and PAW treatments for the degradation of different mycotoxins in recent years to minimize the mycotoxin levels in food [28, 29]. Two possible pathways are generally available to achieve mycotoxin degradation—(1) inactivation of the fungi that produce the mycotoxins, herein referred to as mycotoxinproducing fungi (MPF), and (2) direct degradation of the mycotoxins. The most recent findings of the studies that target the two pathways using NTP and PAW treatments are respectively presented in Sections 3.1 and 3.2.

#### **3.1 Inactivation of MPF**

The application of NTP for the inactivation of MPF in food has been comprehensively reviewed in the past [28, 30], whereas a review on the effects of PAW on MPF inactivation is still lacking. Therefore, this chapter emphasizes the key findings from the most recent NTP studies, particularly in the past 3 years, and all PAW studies, to provide updated information on the current progress of these technologies for MPF inactivation. The application of NTP and PAW is generally commonly prevalent in nuts, seeds, and spices, and the commonly challenged MPF includes species that are mainly from the *Aspergillus (A.)*, *Alternaria (Alt.),* and *Fusarium (F.)* fungal genera due to their capability to produce mycotoxins. These findings are summarized in **Table 1**.



*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*


### **Table 1.**

*Recent findings on the effects of gaseous NTP and PAW treatments on the inactivation of MPF in food.*

#### *DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*

These studies revealed that NTP can achieve 100% inactivation of MPF in food, particularly of the *Aspergillus* species, which can produce the most toxic mycotoxins, that is, the aflatoxins. For example, *A. flavus* populations in pistachio nuts were completely inactivated in only 3 min of NTP treatment operated in DBD using ambient air [31]. Similarly, an atmospheric pressure capacitive coupled plasma (AP-CCP) also demonstrated complete inactivation of *A. flavus* in pistachio nuts but only after a long treatment period of 10 min using Ar gas [33]. The said study compared three different kinds of NTP treatment, which includes AP-CCP, and found that AP-CCP was the optimum device due to its most effective MPF inactivation capability and lesser cost requirements compared with direct-current diode plasma (DC-DP) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) systems [33]. Furthermore, some food crops can be a host to multiple MPF, thus resulting in the co-occurrence of MPF in food. A study also revealed that NTP treatment using a DBD reactor with radiofrequency (RF) generator (RDBD) and He as the feed gas completely inactivated the co-occurring *Aspergillus* species, including *A. westerdijikiae, A. steynii,* and *A. versicolor*, in ground coffee after 6 min [35]. Meanwhile, other studies only achieved partial inactivation of MPF but still reduced their populations significantly. For instance, Mravlje et al. [30] used a large-scale RF plasma system operating in O2 gas and reported significant reductions in *Alternaria* and *Fusarium* fungal communities in common and Tartary buckwheat seeds in only 1.50 and 2 min of treatment, respectively. Similarly, treatment of ginseng seeds for 3 days at 10 min each day using a planar-type DBD plasma reactor also reduced *Fusarium* populations and found that using Ar as feed gas showed higher reduction compared to that when Ar/ O2 gas mixture was used [32]. Overall, the choice of plasma device, feed gas, treatment duration, type of MPF, and food matrix can affect the efficiency of NTP treatment for MPF inactivation. As an example, Sen et al. [36] reported that the use of AP plasma resulted in higher reductions of *A. flavus* and *A. parasiticus* in hazelnuts compared with low-pressure (LP) plasma using N2 gas in both treatments. However, AP and LP plasmas achieved an almost similar inactivation of *A. parasiticus* when the air was used.

Meanwhile, the use of PAW treatment for MPF inactivation in food did not produce the best results compared with NTP treatment. PAW generated from Ar/ air mixture and distilled water using an electrohydraulic streamer discharge plasma (ESDP) system inhibited *A. brassicicola* spores in Chinese kale seeds by approximately 70% but only after a long treatment period of 60 min [38]. Terebun et al. [37] also showed that PAW operated using a single-phase gliding arc reactor (GAD) at atmospheric pressure produced inconsistent levels of inactivation of several MPF in beetroot and carrot seeds, including *Alt. alternata, A. niger, F. solani, Penicillium (P.) expansum, P. nigricans, Alt. radicina,* and *F. avenaceum*, depending on the treatment duration and fungal species.

Overall, NTP and PAW showed effectiveness in the inactivation of MPF in food. However, the plasma operation and treatment parameters must be carefully considered to achieve the maximum efficiency offered by NTP and PAW considering MPF inactivation in food.

#### **3.2 Direct degradation of mycotoxin**

Comprehensive literature reviews on the application of NTP for the degradation of several mycotoxins in food over the past years have been discussed in previous publications, while that of PAW is still lacking [4, 28, 29, 39, 40]. This chapter highlighted the key findings from the past 3 years on the effects of NTP and PAW on the degradation of mycotoxins in food. A summary of these findings is shown in **Table 2**.


#### *Mycotoxins and Food Safety - Recent Advances*


*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*


**Table 2.**

*Recent findings on the effects of gaseous NTP and PAW treatments on mycotoxin degradation in food.*

#### *DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*

Among the mycotoxins, the aflatoxins are regarded as one of the most widely distributed and toxic mycotoxins, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has categorized AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2 as Group 1 carcinogens [48, 49]. Thus, most of the research on mycotoxin degradation using NTP has focused on aflatoxins, especially on AFB1. A recent study has shown that AFB1 was completely degraded in corn kernels after treatment for only 4 min with a high discharge power operation of a surface barrier discharge (SBD) system in ambient air [43]. By contrast, a similar study reported a low reduction (65%) of AFB1 in maize after treatment with an AP plasma jet using He as the feed gas for 10 min [45]. The same author also reported a comparable reduction of 64% of fumonisin B1 (FB1) using the same treatment conditions [45]. Meanwhile, short treatment periods of 2–5 min corresponding to constant (peanuts placed directly under the plasma jet flame) and agitated (peanuts placed in a moving conveyor belt) air plasma jet surface treatments reduced the total aflatoxin levels (AFB1 + AFB2) by only 23 and 38%, respectively [46]. T-2 and HT-2, which are trichothecene mycotoxins of the *Fusarium* species, are also commonly studied in recent years. Iqdiam et al. [41] reported that T-2 and HT-2 concentrations in wheat grains significantly decreased up to 79.80 and 70.40%, respectively, after 10 min of air-NTP treatment using a DBD system. Kiš et al. [42] also used an LP-DBD plasma reactor for T-2 and HT-2 degradation in oat flour and achieved relatively low maximum reductions of T-2 (44.42%) and HT-2 (40.87%) after 30 min of treatment using N2 gas. Additionally, DON in raw barley grains was degraded by 54.40% after 10 min of DBD atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) treatment with air as feed gas [44], which is lower compared with T-2 and HT-2 reductions using similar treatment conditions [41]. Meanwhile, the degradation of 50% of ochratoxin A (OTA) in roasted ground coffee took 30 min of NTP exposure with an RDBD using He gas [35]. Overall, NTP treatment demonstrated the effectiveness of up to 100% of mycotoxin degradation in food but with a large variation. Furthermore, the results from these studies imply that the type of plasma device, feed gas, treatment duration, type of mycotoxin, and food matrix may affect the efficiency of NTP treatment for mycotoxin degradation in food.

Meanwhile, the effect of PAW on the degradation of mycotoxins in food is less studied compared with NTP treatment. In recent years, only one research has shown the applicability of PAW for mycotoxin degradation in the food matrix. Chen et al. [47] demonstrated that 20 min of treatment with PAW generated using a nonthermal AP plasma jet from the air and distilled water resulted in maximum reductions of DON by 25.80 and 38.30% in raw and germinating barley, respectively. This phenomenon may have resulted in less interest in PAW compared to NTP due to the low mycotoxin degradation capability of PAW. Therefore, further research on the use of PAW for mycotoxin degradation is necessary to be optimized for decontamination of food from harmful mycotoxins.

#### **4. Mechanisms of action of NTP and PAW in mycotoxin decontamination of food**

#### **4.1 Proposed mechanism of MPF inactivation**

The mechanisms involved in the plasma-induced inactivation of MPF have been thoroughly discussed in past literature [30, 50]. The reactive species produced during NTP and PAW generation are generally believed to contribute substantially to the action of these technologies against different microorganisms, including bacteria

and fungi [38, 50, 51]. Particularly, the action of ROS in MPF inactivation has been elucidated in many studies, while that of RNS remains unknown [52].

The harsh oxidative environment of NTP and/or PAW can result in fungal spore inactivation through denaturation of the proteins that comprise the coating of spores, thus leading to the loss of spore coat integrity, which then exposes the center of the spore to plasma ROS [28, 31]. The destruction of spore coat integrity results in the reduction of cell viability [31]. For instance, the disintegration of the cell walls of *A. flavus* and *A. parasiticus* spores led to the release of cytoplasmic structures as clusters following atmospheric NTP treatment [36]. Similarly, the walls of *A. brassicicola* spores had morphological changes, such as breakage or leakage of the outer membranes, following PAW treatment [38]. The authors concluded that the spores of *A. brassicicola* lost their integrity, and the contents of the cells dispersed into clusters as observed in scanning electron microscopy images [38]. In addition, the acidic environment of PAW could affect the cell walls of spores [36]. For instance, a recent study concluded that the inactivation of *A. flavus* spore was due to the synergistic effects of acidified PAW environment and long-lived reactive species [53]. In addition to the denaturation of the spore coat proteins, MPF inactivation may also occur by damaging the lipid bilayers, which results in a ruptured fungal cell wall [28, 31]. The core of the spore becomes vulnerable again to attacks by the plasma reactive species once the cell wall is ruptured, leading to fungal inactivation [28, 31]. Other mechanisms involved in the damage of fungal spores are the accumulation of charged particles and continuous bombardment of reactive species on the external surface of spores, which both lead to cell wall rupture [31]. Reports indicate that the accumulated charged particles resulted in the formation of enlarged pores on the spore surface of *A. flavus* and *A. parasiticus* after NTP treatment due to electroporation, which promotes spore death [54].

Thus far, the mechanisms of MPF inactivation using plasma treatments involve changes in fungi morphology. However, the morphology of *F. oxysporum* spore was not altered after its inactivation using NTP treatment [50]. The authors reported that the increase in lipid accumulation inside the cells induced apoptosis, which is a form of programmed cell death [50]. Considering the direct action of select ROS on MPF inactivation, previous literature suggested that the action of •OH radicals on unsaturated fatty acids and the oxidation of amino acids can respectively lead to lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation, which can result in fungi death [30]. Furthermore, the interaction of oxygen radicals with DNA can lead to the formation of base adducts, resulting in DNA oxidation, which can also cause fungi death [30].

Summarizing the results of the above-mentioned studies, the MPF inactivation of plasma mainly occurs due to changes in the morphology caused by the damage in the protective coating of the fungal spores, membrane peroxidation and leakage, protein oxidation, DNA damage, and apoptosis [4, 30]. Notably, the observed and proposed mechanisms of MPF inactivation by the aforementioned studies may have varied due to the different plasma devices and processing parameters employed in the individual studies, which can lead to different actions of NTP and/or PAW against MPF inactivation.

#### **4.2 Proposed mechanism of mycotoxin degradation**

The mechanisms of mycotoxin degradation induced by NTP treatments have been comprehensively reported elsewhere [28, 40, 51]. AFB1 is the major mycotoxin that is studied in plasma investigations; thus, the reports on the mechanism of

#### *DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*

mycotoxin degradation induced by plasma mainly revolved around AFB1 [55]. The toxicity of AFB1, and aflatoxins in general, is related to the C8 = C9 double bond on the furan ring, which is considered to be the toxicity site [55]. Generally, the degradation of AFB1 is proposed to have resulted from the action of long-lived ROS with chemical structures of AFB1, particularly at the toxicity site [52, 56]. For example, reports indicated that O3 and •OH radical were among the primary contributors to the degradation of AFB1 into six major degradation byproducts using DBD-based plasma treatment, and the authors provided an illustration of the proposed degradation mechanism in their work [52]. The authors proposed the following two mechanisms of degradation—(1) an addition reaction involving H2O, H, or CHO radicals and (2) an epoxidation reaction involving HO2• and oxidation reactions, including O3, H2O2, and •OH radical [52]. An earlier study also proposed that the O•, H•, and •OH radicals produced from a low-temperature RF plasma were the major reactive species that degraded AFB1 into five major degradation byproducts, and two mechanisms of degradation were introduced [57]. Overall, the two studies revealed that the degradation of AFB1 begins with the breakage of the C8 = C9 double bonds on the furan ring, followed by an attack by the ROS, thus resulting in the formation of AFB1 degradation byproducts [52, 57]. This conclusion was further confirmed in a recent study, which investigated the degradation byproducts of AFB1 using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet generated from a pulsed DBD jet, stating that AFB1 degradation byproducts are produced from the modifications at the furan ring [45].

The degradation of other major mycotoxins, such as OTA, could also be mainly due to ROS molecules and radicals, such as O3, H2O2, and •OH radical, as well as UV irradiation and etching [35]. The ROS could promote the degradation of OTA into slightly toxic compounds, such as L-phenylalanine [35]. Furthermore, the degradation byproducts of ZEN following a plasma jet-based NTP treatment were reported, which identified two degradation byproducts [45].

Studies on the mechanism of action for mycotoxin degradation using PAW treatment and determination of mycotoxin degradation byproducts post-treatment are currently unavailable. However, similar to the gaseous NTP, the different ROS dominates the degradation of mycotoxins during PAW treatment. For example, the H2O2, O3, and nitrate ion (NO3 − ) reactive species were believed to be the major reason for DON degradation in barley during PAW treatment [47].

Overall, the reactive species are the major contributors to the degradation of mycotoxins during NTP treatment of food. Further work on the elucidation of degradation mechanism and byproducts of other major mycotoxins, such as OTA, DON, or ZEN, following NTP treatment, is also needed. Moreover, extensive research on the degradation byproducts of these mycotoxins and proposed mechanisms using PAW treatment is warranted.

#### **5. Effects of NTP and PAW treatments on food quality**

In addition to the effective and significant decontamination of food from mycotoxins using NTP and PAW treatments, another known promising characteristic of these technologies is the retainment or negligible impact on the nutritional and other key properties of food. This chapter emphasizes the effects of NTP and PAW treatments on food quality following mycotoxin decontamination from the most recent studies.

Results revealed that the overall likeability was positively correlated with the overall texture (r = 0.77) and flavor (r = 0.87) of peanuts [46]. Generally, NTP treatment did not produce a negative effect on the sensory properties of food [34, 46]. For example, the treatment of red pepper flakes for *A. flavus* inactivation did not significantly affect its color and flavor properties compared with the control [34]. Similarly, the overall appearance of peanuts after NTP treatment using a plasma jet device did not significantly change, while the overall likeability, flavor, and texture of the NTPtreated peanuts significantly increased; this finding indicates that NTP treatment can also enhance the sensory characteristics of peanuts [46].

By contrast, plasma treatments had varying effects on the physicochemical properties of food. NTP treatment of pistachio nuts for *A. flavus* inactivation revealed a slight increase in the antioxidant activity and a significant increase in malondialdehyde values, while the total phenolic content remained unchanged; however, a decrease in chlorophyll, total carotenoid, and color parameters was observed [31]. NTP treatment was also found to significantly lower the capsaicin and ascorbic acid levels of red pepper flakes, but its antioxidant activity and color were unaffected by the treatment [34]. Similarly, the color of wheat grains did not also show changes after NTP treatment, along with the nitrogen, protein, starch, and moisture contents [41]. Another study also reported the absence of significant differences in the moisture, protein, and β-glucan contents of barley after NTP treatment compared with control [44]. The peanut oil extracted from NTP-treated peanuts also had no significant difference in its peroxide value, free fatty acid, acidity value, and oxidative stability index compared with control after the treatment [46]. Meanwhile, the NTP treatment of corn kernels and peanuts produced slight oxidation and bitterness in taste [43, 46]. By contrast, PAW treatment did not affect the overall quality of Chinese kale seeds [38].

Overall, the effects of NTP and PAW treatments on food quality may differ depending on the processing parameters employed and the type of food matrix tested [11].

#### **6. Safety of mycotoxin degradation byproducts in treated food after NTP and PAW treatments**

Examining the safety or toxicity of the food post-treatment and the byproducts produced during the process is important for any emerging technology, especially in the field of food processing. However, investigations regarding these concerns in the field of plasma research for mycotoxin decontamination are still limited in the current state of literature. The AFB1 byproducts are hypothesized to have reduced toxicity due to the loss of the C8 = C9 double bond, which is related to its toxicity [57]. This finding was confirmed in a recent study, which reported that the degradation byproducts of AFB1 after AP plasma jet treatment showed no increased cytotoxicity in human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells [45]. Additionally, another study revealed through a brine shrimp (*Artemia salina*) lethality bioassay that the OTA extract from untreated coffee was "toxic," which corresponds to a 50–88.30% mortality in brine shrimp larvae [35]. However, the mortality rate was reduced to "slightly toxic" levels (10–33.33% mortality) when OTA extract from NTP-treated coffee was exposed to brine shrimp larvae [35]. Meanwhile, the safety or toxicity of the original food that has undergone NTP or PAW treatment for mycotoxin decontamination has not been currently assessed.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779 Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water*

Overall, the current investigations demonstrate that NTP treatment can degrade mycotoxins and produce degradation byproducts that are nontoxic or with lower degrees of toxicity compared with the toxic parent compound. However, the safety of the food treated with NTP or PAW remains unknown. Hence, future research should address this issue to guarantee the safety of plasma-treated food for human consumption.

#### **7. Conclusions**

The nonthermal-based treatments such as NTP and PAW have shown promising results in the field of food decontamination against biological and chemical contaminants. Particularly, their effects on decontaminating foods from mycotoxins have been exceptional, and the capability of NTP and PAW to inactivate fungi and degrade mycotoxins is due to the oxidizing capacities of the existing reactive species in the plasma. The existing literature reveals that NTP and PAW inactivated the fungi that produce the mycotoxins as well as degraded the mycotoxins in foods, such as nuts, seeds, and spices, without producing harmful byproducts and having mild impacts on food quality. However, the result is still inconsistent in all studies. For instance, the current literature indicates NTP as the better treatment option for MPF inactivation and mycotoxin degradation compared with PAW. This finding is due to the desirable inactivation or degradation efficiencies of NTP treatment of up to 100% in no longer than 30 min, whereas low efficiencies of PAW treatment were observed and can only be achieved at long treatments. However, NTP treatment is more prone to induce undesirable effects on food quality compared with PAW.

Overall, the decontamination of foods from mycotoxins using NTP and PAW treatments and their effects on food quality is dependent on many factors, including the plasma device, the treatment parameters (such as power supply, type of feed gas, and treatment duration), the fungi species, the type of mycotoxin, and the food matrix. Thus, comparison of the results from various studies is difficult due to this diversity in plasma operation techniques. Therefore, deciding which NTP or PAW treatment is the best for mycotoxin decontamination of food remains unclear. Hence, consideration and optimization of the results from the current studies are crucial to ensure maximum utilization of NTP and PAW technologies for mycotoxin decontamination of food.

### **Author details**

Hsiu-Ling Chen1 \*, Rachelle D. Arcega1 , Samuel Herianto2,3,4, Chih-Yao Hou5 and Chia-Min Lin5

1 Department of Food Safety/Hygiene and Risk Management, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

2 Chemical Biology and Molecular Biophysics Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program (TIGP), Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

3 Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

4 Department of Chemistry (Chemical Biology Division), College of Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

5 Department of Seafood Science, College of Hydrosphere, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

\*Address all correspondence to: hsiulinchen@mail.ncku.edu.tw

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Mycotoxin Decontamination of Foods Using Nonthermal Plasma and Plasma-Activated Water DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103779*

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## *Edited by Romina Alina Marc*

Global food security is a major issue worldwide. Given the rapid socioeconomic changes of the last decade, food processing, food supply, and consumption patterns have undergone significant changes, increasing the number of food security problems. One of these problems is mycotoxin contamination, which can have major adverse effects on food safety and crop yield. This book presents comprehensive information on recent advances in mycotoxins and food safety. It includes five sections: "Introduction: Mycotoxins and Food Safety Overview"; "The Influence of Contaminants on Food Safety" "Mycotoxins in Feed"; "Indirect Mycotoxin Contamination of Food Safety"; and "Control and Reduction of Mycotoxin Contamination".

Published in London, UK © 2022 IntechOpen © tonaquatic / iStock

Mycotoxins and Food Safety - Recent Advances

Mycotoxins and Food Safety

Recent Advances

*Edited by Romina Alina Marc*